Parishioners leaving a village church beneath snow-covered mountains

Saint Joseph's Day

Cantonal holiday 5 cantons; SO municipal only Falls on: Thursday 1 leave day = 4 days

Saint Joseph's Day falls on Thursday, 19 March in 2026. It applies canton-wide in Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Ticino and Valais.

Author
Ferien-Kalender.ch editorial team
Last checked
Source basis
official sources and editorial review
Saint Joseph's Day 2026

Date, scope and what changes

Plan around 19 March only where it applies

Cantonal holiday. Saint Joseph's Day 2026 falls on Thursday, 19 March 2026. Canton-wide in Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Ticino and Valais. Solothurn's current Rest Days Act allows municipalities to designate additional local rest days; that does not make Saint Joseph's Day canton-wide, and no current canton-wide municipal list is published.

In these five cantons, leave on Friday, 20 March creates a four-day break; in Solothurn, check the municipality before treating Thursday as a public holiday.

Only Swiss National Day on 1 August has federal constitutional holiday status. Saint Joseph's Day is governed cantonally and, in Solothurn, municipally.

Date
19 March.
Scope
5 cantons; SO municipal only
Canton-wide in Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Ticino and Valais. Solothurn's current Rest Days Act allows municipalities to designate additional local rest days; that does not make Saint Joseph's Day canton-wide, and no current canton-wide municipal list is published.
Planning
19 March 2026 to 22 March 2026
1 leave day = 4 days
1 leave day = 4 days

Use Friday after Saint Joseph's Day in five cantons

Friday, 20 March creates a four-day weekend in five cantons; in Solothurn, check the relevant municipality first.

Use 20 March as a bridge only in five cantons. Friday, 20 March creates a four-day weekend in five cantons; in Solothurn, check the relevant municipality first.

Leave, school closure and provider hours remain separate checks for the actual place.

Calendar effect
19 March 2026 to 22 March 2026
19 March.

Assumption: Monday-Friday working week.

Workplace applicability is not confirmed; no leave days are preselected. Local or partial employment entitlement for Saint Joseph's Day (2026-03-19) at the workplace in Switzerland must be confirmed with the municipality and employer.

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Affected cantons

Plan around 19 March only where it applies

Saint Joseph's Day applies canton-wide only in the five listed cantons. In Solothurn, it applies only where a municipality has designated it as a local rest day.

Saint Joseph's Day in Switzerland
Saint Joseph's Day applies canton-wide only in the five listed cantons. In Solothurn, it applies only where a municipality has designated it as a local rest day.

Feast of Saint Joseph

Saint Joseph's Day is the Catholic feast of Saint Joseph. Its canton-wide public-holiday scope is concentrated in Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Ticino and Valais.

Patron of families and workers

In church tradition, Joseph is honoured as a patron of families and workers. Services and patronal feasts are local religious observances and do not automatically widen the statutory scope.

Sources & further reading

  1. SECO: leisure and public holidays : Federal guidance distinguishing the nationwide holiday from cantonal holidays.
  2. Swiss Labour Act Art. 20a : Federal labour rule for canton-designated holidays.
  3. Federal Constitution Art. 110 : constitutional status of Swiss National Day.
  4. Historical federal compilation (2011) : Historical context only; not current scope authority.
  5. EDK school holidays : Cantonal school-holiday source.
  6. Canton of Uri: public holidays 2026 : current official cantonal list for 2026.
  7. Canton of Schwyz: public holidays 2026 : current official cantonal and local holiday list for 2026.
  8. Nidwalden public-rest-day law : current official cantonal law.
  9. Canton of Ticino: public holidays 2026 : current official cantonal list for 2026.
  10. Valais public-holiday law : current official cantonal law.
  11. Canton of Solothurn: Rest Days Act : current statutory basis for municipalities to designate additional local rest days.
  12. Canton of Uri: Public Rest Days Act : Official source for the stated scope.
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